The phrase "world-class oil spill response and prevention" is a meaningless platitude. There is no such thing as world-class oil spill response and prevention. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver's announcement does little to diminish the risk or change the nature of shipping oil on the B.C. coast.

Pathogens only make up a fraction of the diversity of germs on Earth and a number of environmental germs have been examined for their financial and environmental benefit. For the most part, these germs are unknown and kept away from the science spotlight.